I have seen the light part II (results & pics)

Hood info:

Hood info:

For those that asked, here are some more pictures of my hood:

Here you can see the fan tumors on top:
front_closed.jpg


I had to bump up the brightness in this one so you could see anything but the MH bulbs:
front_long.jpg


front_open.jpg


This one shows how I mounted the VHO:
front_side.jpg


That's it for pictures I could take without being redundant. Hopefully they are somewhat helpful. THe hood design is pretty simple. I used 1x10 for the sides which sit directly on top of the tank. The front is 1x3s glued together. I put 1x3 around the bottom to conceal the top lip of the tank and keep the hood from moving side to side. I used 1x2 around the top as moulding. The top piece is just 1x2s glued together. The door consists of the front piece and a 1x3 on top so that it wraps around the top and opens up the top a little when the door is open. I used a rabbit-type joint on the 1x3 part of the top that meets the 1x3 top part of the door and on the 1x3 top part of the door itself so that light doesn't leak out the seem there. Like I said, it's a pretty simple design. Hopefully my description has helped more than confused.

Brian
 
PurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrFECT! hehe..now...one last question... can you build me one just like that? hehe.. just kidding (i'm actually not). Yes i am kidding. Once again, you have managed to be thorough and prompt and damn near flawless in all of your posts. How much easier can you make it? I think i have a pretty good idea of what im gonna do for my canopy now. I appreciate all of your help.
 
BJMUMY - Could you give us the exact outside dimensions of your hood? I'd especially like to know how tall it is.

Thanks
 
Great Hood/Setup!

Now that it's finished, I was wondering how your temperature is doing?

I just built a pendant type hood w/MH for a small tank and was thinking about putting fans in it an lowering it down closer to the tank.
 
Wow, lots of questions!

MrSandman, glad I could be of help. If you have any other questions, don't be afraid to ask (email is good too).

moviegeek, the total height of the hood off the top of the plastic tank lip is the height of a 1x10 or 9.25". The total height including the part that overlaps down over the sides and front is 11". With the height of the Spiderlights (which hold the bulbs pretty far away from the top of the hood), the bulbs are about 6" off the water. The total height from the inside top of the hood to the water surface is about 10".

olgakurt, my temperature is exactly the same as it was with VHO right now (~80). It has been cooler here though, so I wouldn't expect it to be too hot. The big test will be next summer. I will say though, that since the heat is coming from just 2 points rather than 4 4' tubes, I don't think it will be a problem. I think if you were to spread out the heat from MH to an area the size of VHO, there would be little difference in temp. It just seems hotter because there are 2 really hot spots.

smiller, it's a standard AGA 75 gallon.

Brian
 
BJ,

Just one word. Spectacular. You have saved a lot of people a lot of money with this little DIY!!! I think that the reef community will not be the same now that they realize that they can get MH at affordable prices. The pictures are spectular! They show exactly what the set up is like. I do have a few quetions.

1) How will you replace the Actinics when it is time to replace them. It looks like they feet just right over the canopy and not much room to allow removal.

2) Awesome shot of the tank. Can we see a picture of the tank with just the MH lights on so we can see how much a difference look the actinics provide?

Rico.
 
1) How will you replace the Actinics when it is time to replace them. It looks like they feet just right over the canopy and not much room to allow removal.

The covers on the VHO endcaps that slide over the bulbs unscrew to allow the bulbs to rotate and drop right out of the endcaps so changing bulbs will be very easy. That being said, I don't anticipate changing the actinics often. Since they provide such a small amount of light compared to the MHs, they are really only for aesthetics and I will therefore replace them based on how the tank looks rather than age. I figure I'll let them go a couple years unless the tank becomes at all noticeably less blue because they are fading.

2) Awesome shot of the tank. Can we see a picture of the tank with just the MH lights on so we can see how much a difference look the actinics provide?

I just took these shots tonight:
Here's a shot with the Iwasakis only:
mhonly.jpg


Here's a shot with the Iwasakis + VHO actinics:
actinics.jpg


I think the actinics help a lot. Without them, the Iwasakis are too yellow. With them, the tank looks bright and white and I really like the color.

Brian
 
Wow that looks nice what size tank is it...Well I final;ly called graybar today they tried to charge me $76 a piece for the $23 ballasts..the guy said he'd have to call advance and he would call me back..never did waht a jerk i will call back again tommorow at my lunch break how you guys get them for $23 when they told you $76 i told them they were only supposed to be $23 and thats when he said he would have to call advance he did say that I didn't need an account they can just put it under misc.. contractor.. so thats good...Dan

I really want these ballasts they would be great since I am going from a 46 gallon bowfront to a 90gallon tank!!!I really will need the extra light for my corals now...
 
BJ,

Thanks for the pictures.. Now that is what I call service!!! Witht he actinics on it definitely softens the look. Beautiful!

By the way for those who are looking for the ballast, graybar is not the only name in town. Most electrical supply stores can also order this ballast for you. Most of them won't have it readily in stock. I was given a quote of $25 plus tax from one of the locals.

**** I currently am running 440W of VHO (4 110W) I am wondering if I would see much of an improvement going to two 250W MV bulbs with 2 110W actinics?

BJ, what kind of lighting did you have before the new set up? By the way is that some sort of toadstool on the bottom left?

Rico.
 
Bamm Bamm, it's a 75 gallon tank.

Rico,
I had 440W of VHO before. This setup is so much better than the VHO, I'm amazed. The tank looks a lot brighter and the corals absolutely love the extra light. My tank has never looked so good. Even my mushrooms have perked up (which I certainly didn't expect). I really wish I had done this a long time ago and I certainly encourage anyone else to make the same change. I now know why most people eventually upgrade to MH. Yes, that is a toadstool on the bottom left. I got it last summer for free at HA. Gary just threw it in one of my bags. At that time, it was the size of a dime. It seems to like the Mh also.

Brian
 
I just love the shimmer effect MH gives on the water..LOL....I gotta call around today after I go to work and vote etc...Dan
 
I finally got my MV ballast through the Cincinatti Ohio branch of Graybar. The NY branches weren't very helpful at all. Then again I have no clue how much S&H is going to be, but I figured it shouldn't be more than a few bucks... i hope. I'd just call the cincinatti branch if I were you, the've gotten a bunch of orders already, so they should know what you're talking about and that the price should be $23.

Nick
 
Well, unfortunately Graybar was no help here. They insisted that I open an account. I was in the process of trying to find the parts elsewhere(did find it for a lot more money), when someone pointed me to http://www.acropora.com. If you go to their pfo metal halide kits, you'll notice that they have several that are "iwasaki only"(think I might have posted something on this earlier). They are MV ballast kits. Good prices. The 250 watt kit, for example, is $109.00, and includes everything but the bulb and reflector. Maybe not quite the deal BJmumy got going DIY but pretty close. Unfortunately it would probably cost me more than the pre-fab kit to go DIY with the parts prices I have available to me.

This was a very nice looking DIY project....I love the color of the Iwasaki's on the MV ballast.

-Mike
 
Your tank looks great! Are you still happy with your lights? DO the ballasts get hot now that they are own for a long time. What ballast are you using for the VHO's?

So far I have the ballast, the Spiderlights, and the Iwaski bulbs but I don't have the Vho part of my lighting.
Thank so much for the great information you have provided in this thread. I had been struggling with the lighting question for a long time. The pictures you provided are great and very helpful.
TnReefer
 
SWEEEET TANK!!!!
I never have heard why is it a iwasaki bulb balast only.Why couldnt you use different bulbs?
 
Hey guys (n'gals), here's a big part of the Iwasaki confusion: The Iwasaki 250w bulb is technically a mercury vapor bulb. That's why they are only $55 bucks. The "eye guy" told you that now, and a few weeks ago, a reefer in Hong Kong, in a post here, gave us direct quotes from the Japanese Iwasaki catalog also explaining that the 150w Iwasaki is a metal halide bulb and the 250w is a mercury vapor bulb and they are from two different lamp series. That is why Iwasaki (in the US, Eye Corp.) consistently recommends the mv ballast for the 250watter. The big confusion happens because mercury vapor lamps can run on metal halide ballasts (but oh how darned unfortunate, not vice-versa) but not exactly right. That's the way that mess sorted out when a few of us thrashed through it. The upshot of it for me was, I traded the Iwasaki 150w which I never fired up, in on a 250w 12k sunburst(which I have a 250w MH ballast for, already). because I was looking for a mercury vapor cheap ballast solution, and the perfect setup for $80 total could be at hand.
When I eventually do actually get my hands on that elusive 250w MV ballast, I will start getting the 250 watters too.
 
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